Plastic

Netnet Camomot .

“ANG hirap lang talaga humanap ng tao na totoo sa ’yo sa showbiz. Kasi totoong-totoo ako, e. Ang hirap. Iyon ang sinasabi sa ’kin ng mama ko na, ‘Huwag mo ituring lahat na pamilya. Mamili ka lang.’ Ako kasi, hindi ako namimili.”

Kris, is that you?

Nope. It’s Alessandra de Rossi in an emotional tete-a-tete with Boy Abunda. She further said, “Umabot ako sa… Gusto ko na namang mag-quit. ‘Yung, ‘Ayoko na, ang pa-plastic niyong lahat!’ Alam mo ‘yon? Pero hindi, e. Kailangan ko lang siguro iegulate.”

Well, there are people who will decide the quitting for you—they’ll reject your offer to help, then, they’ll drop you. And then, they pretend they want you back. Tsk tsk. Ano ba talaga, Kuya? They should have been absolutely and 100-percent sure they didn’t want you anymore in their kiss-a** and beholden group before rejecting and dropping you. It’s either they want you or not, with “or” obviously not one of the choices.

Kris Aquino could have said the same words as De Rossi’s since the former has filed 44 counts of qualified theft against her former business manager and partner after she discovered the allegedly unauthorized P1.2 million worth of charges on her corporate credit card, which, by the way, is also called plastic money.

Plastic could be the standard operating procedure in showbiz but its use outside of showbiz is now being discouraged to lessen pollution and its damaging effect on marine life.

In case you’re not convinced yet, a sperm whale that was recently found dead in Indonesia had plastic waste in its stomach. World Wildlife Fund-Indonesia tweeted that it had, “Hard plastic (19 pieces, 140g), plastic bottles (4 pieces, 150g), plastic bags (25 pieces, 260g), flip-flops (2 pieces, 270g), pieces of string (3.26kg) & plastic cups (115 pieces, 750g).”

There are many ways to reduce dependence on plastic, such as this Facebook post featuring United Kingdom’s Less Plastic group’s “9 Tips for Living with Plastic”: “1. Bring your own shopping bag; 2. Carry a reusable water bottle; 3. Bring your own cup; 4. Pack your lunch in reusable containers; 5. Say no to disposable straws and cutlery; 6. Skip the plastic produce bags; 7. Slow down and dine in; 8. Store leftovers in glass jars; 9. Share these tips with your friends.”

And the 10th tip should be, Avoid plastic people, the ones who pretend to be your friends when the truth is they’re not.

Plastic is everywhere, but there’s now a conscious effort to ban them. Cagayan de Oro, for one, will welcome the next year right by banning plastic bags starting Jan. 1, 2019.

But to completely stop the use of plastic is not feasible for now. There are simply too many plastic products that exist in this oh so plastic, er, beautiful world, and Ikea, the Swedish furniture retailer, will become one of its sources in Pinas now that it will open a branch at the Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City at the end of 2020. The store will be its biggest outlet ever, with P7 billion as initial investments, and an area of 65,000 square meters or the space required for 150 basketball courts per a Philippine Daily Inquirer piece on its launching. It’s possible for the rest of Pinas to have Ikea branches, too, in the future. Yay!

As to why they’re opening their biggest branch in the world right here in Pinas, Ikea’s Southeast Asia Managing Director Christian Rojkjaer said, “It’s because we have more confidence here.” Wow. If only the Pinoy feels the same way, too, about his beleaguered, er, beloved country.

So, this is globalization which Urban Dictionary describes as “the integration and exchange of ideas and goods globally. Hence the name, globalization. It benefits the middle class and especially the rich and powerful, but has hurt the poor and powerless.” Uh. Hmmm. Okay.

And plastic waste has also gone global, with 5,100 tons of it shipped from South Korea to Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.

In 2013, it was Canada that sent 2,450 tons of trash to Pinas.

Pinas has a garbage problem but it doesn’t mean it’s aiming to be the world’s garbage dump. Hmp.

Climate change is the result of all these environmental woes. With Glamour as the latest magazine choosing to stop printing, at least a lot of trees will be saved there. But I’m going to miss Glamour’s printed editions as it shifts to its online version which will then be read through a mobile phone whose materials are glass, metal and plastic. Yes, plastic. Oh, well.